I was about to enter one of the popular malls in the city
coming from an adjacent LRT station. I was already lining up for the usual
inspection at the entrance when a woman suddenly cut the line in front of me. I
didn't argue and just let her be.

She was a small woman, about five feet and two or three
inches, wearing white plastic eye glasses, white shirt and jeans. Her hair was short
with few highlights and she was carrying this little blue purse.

Five or six seconds passed, she left the line. She even
voiced out her change of mind: "'wag na nga lang."

It baffled me. In an instant, a strange sensation filled my
insides. Instinct told me to check on my back pack and there I found out it was
opened and my wallet and cellphone were nowhere there.

I immediately scanned my surroundings. I thought the
thief/thieves is/are still around. And then I saw the same woman who cut the line
in front of me. She was already descending the stairs hurriedly, her eyes fixed
on the exit not noticing me.

I ran as fast as I could and grabbed her in her arms. As
I did, I called for the security guards manning the entrance a few meters away
from where I caught the woman.

I told them of what happened. She was acting clueless. She
said she was just about to enter the mall but changed her mind. She said she
was not doing anything and that she just wanted to go home.

The security guards handcuffed her and brought us to the
mall's security office. There, the security officers checked her purse and
frisked her, but both my wallet and cellphone were not to be found. We
concluded that she had few accomplices. She denied it.

The head of the mall security talked to me in private. There
I introduced myself, who I am, where I'm from. I thought my identity made him
more resolved to assist me. I explicitly told him I want the woman jailed. He
nodded.

The next thing I knew, we hopped on a mobile patrol and we
were headed to the police station.

Nerissa

As soon as we get to the police station, again, I gave them
my identity. The usual reaction followed, but I immediately proceeded with my
tale of what happened.

Then the police interrogated the woman. She was still
denying she was the thief.

A minute after, the police officer came back and talked to
me. He said the woman confessed her "crime." That indeed, her group
were the one who took my wallet and cellphone. The police officer told me that
he was able to convince the woman that if both wallet and cellphone were to be returned
intact, she'll be free and no case will be filed.

She said she was just a "bakero", a backer, and
that she was not the "tagapitas", or the actual person who picks on
the items the group is about to steal. There were three of them, she said. The
other two were positioned behind me. The woman, she said, was named Alma, and
with her a guy named Bong.

Apparently, she acted as bait. Cutting the line in front of
me was their way of distracting my attention. It was then that her two
accomplices worked on me.

She said usually she gets P1,000 or P1,500, depending on the
amount of money or items they steal. It was only her second time joining Alma's
group, she explained, but admitted that she was already doing it in Caloocan
City with a different group.

Three hours after

The police officers and I were growing impatient. She was
calling her accomplices and her mother thru her own cellphone that my stuff be brought to the police
station immediately. My calm and reassuring voice turned vicious.

I was getting frustrated. I wondered if I'm really getting
back my wallet and cellphone.

Few minutes passed, the station chief arrived. He was a
sturdy looking guy, probably in his mid 30s. He probably came from the Academy.
I was introduced by his men and so, again, I recounted to him what happened.

After that, he went for Nerissa. What proceeded, shocked me
to my core. The chief slapped her strong in the face and kicked her. Before I
knew it, Nerissa was already on the floor, writhing in pain as she

"Thirty minutes lang. Pumunta kayo dito kundi itutuluyan
ko 'to," he said without even waiting for the person on the other line to respond.

Few minutes passed, an old lady with a teenager girl entered
the station. She was carrying a plastic and from there, she whipped out my
wallet and cellphone.

The station chief asked me to check if nothing is missing. A quick inspection proved that not a single centavo was taken. Both my wallet and cellphone looked exactly the same the last time I held on to them.

The old woman pleaded for her daughter. Surprisingly, I felt
not a single drop of pity for them. To cut the long story short, I still filed
a complaint.

The police mobile dropped me in a mall a few kilometers away
from the station where I can take a ride home.

While sitting on of those benches facing the night street, I
noticed my hands were shaking. And then I felt my eyes were tearing-up until my
sight became blurry. I immediately forced back the threatening tears and scolded my self.

I guess I was just really tired that time. I remember my last
meal was breakfast. It was already passed 8:00 in the evening.